Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

   2. To take possession of by force.

            At last they seize The scepter, and regard not
            David's sons.                         --Milton.

   3. To invade suddenly; to take sudden hold of; to come upon
      suddenly; as, a fever seizes a patient.

            Hope and deubt alternate seize her seul. --Pope.

   4. (law) To take possession of by virtue of a warrant or
      other legal authority; as, the sheriff seized the debtor's
      goods.

   5. To fasten; to fix. [Obs.]

            As when a bear hath seized her cruel claws Upon the
            carcass of some beast too weak.       --Spenser.

   6. To grap with the mind; to comprehend fully and distinctly;
      as, to seize an idea.

   7. (Naut.) To bind or fasten together with a lashing of small
      stuff, as yarn or marline; as, to seize ropes.

   Note: This word, by writers on law, is commonly written
         seise, in the phrase to be seised of (an estate), as
         also, in composition, disseise, disseisin.

   {To be seized of}, to have possession, or right of
      possession; as, A B was seized and possessed of the manor
      of Dale. ``Whom age might see seized of what youth made
      prize.'' --Chapman.

   {To seize on} or {upon}, to fall on and grasp; to take hold
      on; to take possession of suddenly and forcibly.

   Syn: To catch; grasp; clutch; snatch; apprehend; arrest;
        take; capture.